Woodcutting

ConnyMcDavid

Been watching some YouTube videos of wilderness camping of a guy in Canada. And it's got me interested in winter camping here.

He has a cool axe and knife for cutting wood. Do you think it's worth getting a pair for winter camping in Ireland or would it be unnecessary given our lack of woodland?

my3cents

It really depends if you learn how to use them?

Cool axes can be heavy and really only justify the weight if you use them. So if you are cooking on a wood fire, not carrying other stove gear and making your own shelter they are useful to the point of being essential. If you have a tent and cooking gear the extra kilo or more is just weight you don't need to be carrying.

Feisar

Axe and bushman are a great combo for processing timber, the whole knife batoning thing works however are you better served with the right tool, i.e. an axe.

A word of caution on axes, the smaller ones like a Gransfors Bruks Small Forest Axe, which are halfway between a hatchet and full size axe are great but the handle length means when swung comes down around mid shin level. They also come shaving sharp and that's no exaggeration.

See Ray Mears vid on axe use, advises using it from a kneeling position for safety:

ConnyMcDavid

my3cents wrote: »

It really depends if you learn how to use them?

Cool axes can be heavy and really only justify the weight if you use them. So if you are cooking on a wood fire, not carrying other stove gear and making your own shelter they are useful to the point of being essential. If you have a tent and cooking gear the extra kilo or more is just weight you don't need to be carrying.

I see. I'll probably see how I go with the stove and leave the axe when I'm more experienced.

I'm just at that excited stage where I want to buy everything and anything camping related.

ConnyMcDavid

Feisar wrote: »

Axe and bushman are a great combo for processing timber, the whole knife batoning thing works however are you better served with the right tool, i.e. an axe.

A word of caution on axes, the smaller ones like a Gransfors Bruks Small Forest Axe, which are halfway between a hatchet and full size axe are great but the handle length means when swung comes down around mid shin level. They also come shaving sharp and that's no exaggeration.

See Ray Mears vid on axe use, advises using it from a kneeling position for safety:

I can't open that link but thanks. I'm a fan of Ray Mears and have a few books of his.

my3cents

ConnyMcDavid wrote: »

I see. I'll probably see how I go with the stove and leave the axe when I'm more experienced.

I'm just at that excited stage where I want to buy everything and anything camping related.

If you have room and can carry the weight then take them both. Its just I find if I'm not careful I carry far too much and have to start cutting down on items that I don't really use that much.

Feisar

Dunno why it's not loading, go to youtube and search ray mears axe use

ConnyMcDavid

Feisar wrote: »

Dunno why it's not loading, go to youtube and search ray mears axe use

I'll have a look at that. I managed to dig out a book of his, essential bushcraft at my parents house. So I'm bet into that at the moment.

I've ordered a husqvarna forest axe so I'm looking forward to trying it out.

Stovepipe

Have a look at the videos put up by a British guy called Simon under the heading of "a bloke in the woods". Very practical and a bit more relevant for our climate than some of Ray Mears' stuff. Im not knocking RM; I think he's excellent, before anyone loads the gun...

Tabnabs

If I'm stealth camping and in public woodland, but really don't want to draw attention to myself, then using an axe sounds like ringing a church bell to me! A good hand saw will do a lot of work for a small campfire.

my3cents

Tabnabs wrote: »

If I'm stealth camping and in public woodland, but really don't want to draw attention to myself, then using an axe sounds like ringing a church bell to me! A good hand saw will do a lot of work for a small campfire.

Interestingly (well to me anyway ) I recently read Ed Kuglars, Dead Center: A Marine Sniper's Two-Year Odyssey in the Vietnam War where his patrol gets pulled into an ambush because they home in on the sound of a guy chopping wood with an axe.

Tabnabs

A beacon for trouble I tells ya! :pac: